Neenah police teach traffic-pedestrian safety

Neenah police were out on Thursday to inform drivers and pedestrians after a man was hit and injured in a crosswalk last week.
Alison Dirr/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Neenah Police Department investigator Jeremey Bauman talks with a driver during the Crosswalk Violation Enforcement Initiative on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 in Neenah, Wis. The initiative is meant to build awareness of pedestrian safety by stopping drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Drivers were given a courtesy warning.(Photo11: Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

NEENAH - Just over a week ago, a pickup truck hit and injured a man crossing the street in downtown Neenah.

After that crash, citizens began to voice their concerns about the challenges facing those who travel on foot across the busy streets.

The intersection where the crash happened is familiar to Sarah Franz of the Victim Crisis Response Team.

Late Thursday morning, she and others, including aldermen, assisted police in an informational campaign at the site. The volunteers walked back and forth on the crosswalk in front of the Marketplace from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. while police pulled over drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

“This area has always been an issue,” Franz said. A few moments later, she watched as a black pickup truck sped down the street.

Drivers are busy on their phones, not paying attention, she said. Two weeks ago, she and her daughters were nearly hit in the crosswalk, she said.

Over the course of Thursday’s campaign, police pulled over offending drivers who didn’t stop for pedestrians, often in the same crosswalk in front of the Marketplace where the man was struck. Many times, drivers stopped and let the walkers pass.

Other times, though, pedestrians looked both ways before gingerly stepping into the street – then jumping back again onto the curb.

The offending drivers received what police called a “courtesy warning,” letting them know that they need to stop for pedestrians or risk a citation. Dubbed the “crosswalk violation enforcement initiative,” the effort is about education, Neenah police community liaison officer Stuart Zuehls told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

“I really think that people have all the intent in the world to drive carefully and to be safe, but I just think that they focus on other things and not on the crosswalk and not on the pedestrian traffic,” Zuehls said.

The informational campaign was geared toward drivers and pedestrians, he said. If a driver has time and room to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk and didn’t, it’s a violation. On the other hand, if a pedestrian walks into the crosswalk without enough time for drivers to stop, that’s a violation on the pedestrian’s part, he said.

Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson was present for Thursday’s enforcement action. He said the city engineer was also watching traffic Thursday and that officials are thinking of ways to make crosswalks safer.

Zuehls called in offending vehicles to officers in squad cars. But as he stood on the sidewalk outside the Marketplace, he also let pedestrians know that a man was hit here last week.

A group of women crossing the street over the lunch hour stopped to chat. One woman connected the issue in Neenah to the fatal crash between a school bus and 12-year-old Justin A. Johnson earlier this week in Kaukauna as the seventh-grader walked home from school.

As the community grieves, the safety of pedestrians has been on the minds of many in the Fox Cities since Johnson was killed.

One of the central questions has revolved around crossing guards: where they are and where they should be.

Neenah has 15 full-time crossing guards, Zuehls said.

Crossing guards keep count of the number of kids crossing at their assigned intersection and are placed at intersections with the most student traffic, Wilkinson said. At least one intersection with stoplights – Winneconne Avenue and Commercial Street – has a crossing guard, he said.

Appleton employs 30 crossing guards, including several who monitor controlled intersections, said Sgt. Dave Lund. The city’s Department of Public Works collaborates with the police department and transportation engineers to determine which intersections should have crossing guards.

“Deciding on where to place guards is based on many factors (number of students, speeds, traffic, road construction, etc.)” Lund said in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

Menasha has seven crossing guards, five under the city’s jurisdiction and two under the Town of Menasha, said John Wallschlaeger, community liaison specialist for the Menasha Police Department.

All five under the city’s umbrella monitor intersections that are controlled in some way.

“Maybe there’s a stop sign or a four-way stop sign, but there’s only one with traffic lights,” Wallschlaeger said.

Community members with concerns can ask the city to review traffic for an intersection, he said.

Kaukauna has nine crossing guards placed throughout the city. There was not a crossing guard at Second Street and Crooks Avenue at the time of Johnson’s death because the intersection has traffic lights, a crosswalk and crossing signals, said Lt. Jamie Graff of the Kaukauna Police Department.

However, city and school district officials will review whether to station someone at the intersection in the future.